During the past decade, the manufacture of custom pens has become a popular and lucrative hobby. Typically, pen enthusiasts purchase metal hardware and small blanks of exotic woods. The blanks are center drilled, then individually placed on a turning shaft between collets. The shaft is then inserted in a lathe spindle, and after the blank is tightened between the collets, the blank is turned on the lathe to create a pen barrel or cap having a desired shape. After staining and/or lacquering, metal pieces are pressed into the turned barrel and cap wood pieces to crate a finished pen body. As pieces to be turned vary greatly in length, a lathe operator will typically have a number of turning shafts, each of which accommodates blanks within a range of lengths. What is needed is a new lathe chuck design requiring but a single turning shaft which accommodates blanks within a wide range of lengths.